Wardrobe trunk



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Patented sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES kMTENT OFFICE.

ALBERI' E. nANnoLn'oE sT. LoUIs, MIssoUnI, AssIGNoR or ONE-FOURTH To JULES A. BAxEn AND yoma-FOURTH 'ro| JOHN J. BAKER, Born or s'r. LoUIs, MIssoUEL WARDROBE TRUNK.

i Application led`0ctobe'r 27, 1923. Serial No. 671,271.

new' and useful Improvement in Ward-robeV Trunks, of ywhich the following is a full, clear, and exact descri tion,*suchfas will enable others skilledl in t e art to which it appertains to make and u se the same.

' This inyention relates to wardrobe trunks. Y One object of myinvention is to provide i awardrobe trunk that is equipped with. an

inexpensive drawerlocking mechanism of simple design that securely holds ally of the drawers of thetrunk closed and preventsl v anyv of said drawers from-being twisted or turned insuch a rway as to partially open the drawer without, however, releasing it from the locking mechanism. e v j Another object is to provide a wardrobe trunk that is-equipped with a drawer lockautomatically.

-ingmechan-ism that'v will lnot be affected kby warping of the drawers or overpacking of.

the drawers and which is so constructed that ifone drawerfis open and thefother drawers are locked,- the movement ofthe open drawer intoits closed positon'causes it tobe locked e Other objects and desirablefeatures of my invention wil1 be hereinafter pointedy Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of a portion ofV a wardrobe trunk equipped with a drawer locking mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, the drawers being removed.

"act on the rear end portions/lof the drawers;

`*wardrobe trunk eguipped with'sliding'drawrand Figure 3 is p drawer lockingV devices: and the releasing barwhich renders' saiddevice inoperative.,V

y'Briefiy stated, my invention conslsts of a ers a plurality'o palrs ofy lockingA devices, each offwhich is associated with a drawer and arrangedA toengage the rea-r endportion of the drawer 'jat two widely separated.

points, thereby holding thedrawer in its locked positonhand preventing 'it from be?,

gure 2 is a side elevational view of said an enlarged yview* `ofone of the i ing twisted or turned sufficiently to obtain access to the drawer when it is locked, and a concealed controlling member combined with said locking devices in such a way that it can be manipulated from the front ot the drawers to Vrender 'all of said devices inoperative simultaneously. In the drawings A designates the drawer section of the trunk, B designates a plurality of sliding drawers arranged in said section'in superimposed relation, and C designates a drawer arranged at the upperend of the drawer section A above the drawers B. The drawer C is equipped with a key-controlled lock l of any suitable design, by which said drawer can be locked in its closed position, and the drawers B are retained in their closed position b a locking mechanism composed of a plura y ity of pairs of locking devices 2 and a controlling member 3 for said locking devices arranged inside'of the drawer section VA of the trunk in such a way that it can be manipulated only when the drawer C is open.

The locking devices 2 are preferably so constructed' and arranged that. they will enter notchesformed in the sides m of the y drawers B adjacent the rear end walls y of said drawers, as shown in Figure 3, and while,y the partic'ulardesign of said locking devices 2 may vary greatly without departing Vfrom the spirit of my invention, I4 prefer to construct said locking devices from flat. bars of spring metal and provide each of said devices with a hook-shaped portion 2a-that is adapted toembrace the upper edge y of the rear end wall y of the drawer with which it co-operates. In'the form of my invention yherein illustrated the locking devices 2 are connectedv to the slides or sup'- ports 4 on the side walls of the drawer section A. of the trunk at the rear ends of said supports, vas shown in Figure 1, so that they will engagethe two rear corner portions of the drawer. @wing to the fact that each of the drawersv B is retained in its closed position 'by two locking devices 2 that `engage the rear end portion of the drawer adjacent the side walls of the drawer, it will be impossible for a person to twist or turn any one of the drawersB sufficiently to gain access to same, as is possible with many of the types of drawer locking mechanisms now used in wardrobe pranks. Moreever; Werp# Y wall of the drawer section A of .the trunk` i the drawer section A of the trunk and which have their upper ends connected with a sliiftingfbar' (5 in sucha way that when said shifting har is moved in one direction, for'` example, to the. left, by manipulating the controlling member. 3 the releasing bars 5 will move downward-1y, thus causing the locking. devices 2 to. become operative, and when saidfsliii'ting bar 6 is movedin the oposite directiomii'or example, tothe rigl'it, idymanipu'lating the controlling member '3, said releasing bars 5 will moveupwardly,

and. thus disengage the locking devices 2 fromthe drawers YB. In the. orm of my invention herein illustrated each of the releasing, bars 5 is provided with a plurality ,of lugs 5a "arranged in such a position with relation to the Vlocking devices 2 at one side ofthe drawer section A of the trunl that they will engage thel hook-,shapedportions 2a off said locking devices and ymove said locking devices upwardly into the position shownin dotted lines in Figure 3 when the controlling, member Bis manipulated to raise the releasing bars 5; The controlling memher. .3, isl arranged on the underside of the top and*V is pivotally' connected at 7 to said t'op AwalLand the connection between said controlling member and the Vshifting bar 6 may" be formedconveniently by a projection 8V on said .shifting V`bar that enters a notch or` elongated -slcta in the rear end of said controlling. member. A The shifting bar 6 is slidingly .mounted in guides 9 on therear wall yof the drawer section of the trunk, and said shifting, bar is providedadjacent its endsv witlrpins 10 that enter inclined slots Vlli in the releasing bars 5 which are sov disposed vthat lateral movement' of said shiftingqbar j in: one direction raises, the releasing vbars 5v vand lateral movement of said-.sliiftin'g` bari in theopposite directiondepresses the releasinglaars.` i

Then the drawers BandCare closedand the drawer C is locked it is impossible to` open any ofthe drawers B or twist' or turn i any of said drawers Bin such a way as to partially, open same, due tothe fact that i each of theydrawers B isk heldin its closed position by a pair of'l'ocking devices 2 that are positioned in notches in the side walls of the drawers B adjacent the rear end walls oit'sai'd drawersa To open any oii'tlhe drawers B it is necessary to first release and open n the drawer C and then manipulate the controllingmember Sdn suehfaI way a'sntowmove .the releasing'hars upwardly, thereby causing the lugs 5a on said barsto disengage the locking devices 2 from the drawers B.

A drawer locking mechanism of the construction ahove` described is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install, andas each of the .drawers B 'governed'by said mechanism: .is Vret'ainedin its-'closed position by two locking devices' that enga-ge' y the rear corners oflt-he drawer" at widely .separated points, itisimpossible for a dishonest personV .to gain access ,toyanyl of the drawersB when `the locking :devicjes' are in their operative ositiDn', 'and there is litt/le liabiling to such an extentga's toLaifect' the drawer locking. mechanism. Still another desirable feature of a wardrobetrunlcequipped with suchy a drawer loclring mechanism is that anyone of thedrawers B cani'be moved intoits lockedposition when the other drawers B are locked without manipulating the-controlling, member '3; For example, if one of the drawers B is left open' after the remainder of thedrawer's-B and the drawer C have been-"closed and locked, the operation of. moving saidopen drawer B-into its closed position causes it to become locked1 automatically, due to the fact that the locking devices '2 whichare associated with said open drawer are a condition, to spring into the notches Vin the rear end portion ofthe drawer when the drawer is moved' into its closed. position. This is a veryvdesirable feature of wardrobe trunk,for it `frequently"happens that ay user, in closing and locking the drawers, carelessly leaves one of` themy open. With drawer locking' mechanisms of' the `lind now generally' used on' wardrobe trunks this would vnecessitate opening the' vity of the .rawer warping,fbuckling or bulgdrawer i equipped with the keycontrolled' lock' and then manipulating lthe controllingmember governing ilie concealedll'ocking devices, so as to permit the opeiidr'a'werto be moved into its closed` position'.y My" invention overcomes the; necessity fof opening the key-con- I trolled drawer and manipulating the controlling member' in anninstanceof thekind refer-red to,y because my improved' drawer locking mechanism :is equipped with` resilient'loclring devices that can flex su'fhciently 'to move into locking engagement with a drawer that 1s.being-moved` from its open into'itsclosed position; when the remainder of the drawers'oftheset are locked.

Having thus describedmy invention, what i I claimas new andjdesire toi secure hy Letters Patent is:

A wardrobe trunk providedwith a plurality of sliding drawers arranged in superimposed relation, a key controlled lock for retaining one of said drawers in its closed position, aV plurality of pairs of resilient locking devices for retaining the other drawers in their closed position arranged so that the locking devices co-operating with each drawer engage the rear corners of the drawer, and a manually-operable controlllng member accessible when the key locked drawer 1s opened for rendering said resilient locking devices operative and lnoperaf tive.

ALBERT F. RANDOLL.' 

